


That Little Thing Isn't Stopping You Now

by WrittenByMe_C



Category: High School Musical (Movies)
Genre: (sort of), Bisexual Chad Danforth, Dumb Jason, Fluff, High School Reunion, Just Chad being anxious, Love, M/M, Multi, Nerves, New York (mentioned), Nice Sharpay, Reunions, Secret Relationship, What team? Wildcats!, angst but not really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:07:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26155477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WrittenByMe_C/pseuds/WrittenByMe_C
Summary: The five-year reunion wasn't an official thing, in fact, it wasn't even an entire-year group thing. It was the old crew; the lava springs lot; the select Wildcats and Drama Kids who Chad seemed to spend most of the last two years of high school with.Three years ago, he still would have considered them all his best friends. But things changed and people grew. People moved on.
Relationships: Chad Danforth/Ryan Evans, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Past Chad Danforth/Taylor McKessie
Comments: 34
Kudos: 347





	That Little Thing Isn't Stopping You Now

**Author's Note:**

> It is the year of our Lord 2020 and here I am writing gay HSM fanfic. But are we really surprised at this point? I wrote this at 2 AM. Enjoy!

Chad was nervous as hell.

The five-year reunion wasn't an official thing, in fact, it wasn't even an entire-year group thing. It was the old crew; the lava springs lot; the select Wildcats and Drama Kids who Chad seemed to spend most of the last two years of high school with.

Three years ago, he still would have considered them his best friends. But things changed and people grew. People moved on.

Zeke, Jason, and Martha had all moved to LA, respectively pursuing their dreams of cooking, film making, and dancing. The last Chad heard, Martha had scored a place as a backing dancer on DWTS, Jason had interned under Wes Anderson, and Zeke had a small cooking segment on a daily talk show. He was proud of his friends – they’d all achieved so much so quickly – but he hadn't spoken to them since a year after graduation.

Taylor had broken up with him two days after graduation. She told him that they needed to get it over and done with so that they could hang out with their friends comfortably one last time before going their separate ways to college. She had gotten into MIT and everyone knew that when September rolled around, they likely wouldn't be seeing her again for many years. Surprisingly, she still messaged him every couple of months to see how he was doing. He'd stopped replying when his girlfriend freshman year had threatened to break his phone when she found out he still spoke to his ex. When he'd finally escaped that relationship, it was Taylor who ghosted him. He lamented the loss of their friendship, but he wasn’t surprised and, honestly, it didn't hit him that badly.

Unlike with Troy. The Wildcat's captain had followed Gabriella to California and eventually majored in sport science or something along those lines. Either way, they lived together an equal distance away from their colleges of choice and got married in a small, family-only, ceremony halfway through their second year. There was the unexpected pregnancy that Gabby somehow managed to complete her third year through, and then they both graduated on time while taking care of a one-year-old. It was insane. For each occasion, Chad left many messages congratulating his brother and trying to catch up, but Troy seemed too busy getting on with his life to give more than a five-word response. It hurt. A lot.

What hurt even more, was receiving a message one the one-year anniversary of Chad moving to New York, saying that the little family was moving back to Albuquerque permanently and that they couldn't wait to see him more often. His best friend, his brother, didn't even know he was living in the Big Apple. It was like the universe looked at how amazing Chad's life had been going and decided to throw one last middle finger into the ring.

Moving to New York was an easy decision.

His degree was only three years long. He'd had to change major three months in after his basketball scholarship had been taken away due to a wrist injury. His mum and grandparents only had enough money stored away to see him through three years so he had to choose his next major depending on the length of the course. Well, turns out he does dance after all. The teacher was extremely accommodating of his injury and even referred him to her own physiotherapist. By the end of his time at UoA he could lift anybody above his head Swayze-style with on a little tightness in his wrist. (As opposed to the excruciating white-hot pain he felt when trying to do a basic bounce-pass to his teammates in his first year).

So, New York. It seemed the obvious choice. He danced now. Like, actually really danced. And he knew there were always places or events or shows in New York that needed dancers. He was more likely to find work there than anywhere else. It didn't hurt that he knew three people there already.  
Sharpay had dropped out of UoA just before the end of first year. She claimed it was because the drama department sucked; said that they wouldn't know talent if it fell on them like a chandelier in an opera house. (Chad shuddered when he realised that he understood that reference. Then shuddered again when he realised – he was once again willingly hanging out and having a conversation with Sharpay Evans, just the two of them). He knew the real reason was that she missed her brother - she said as much after the fourth shot of tequila at the frat party they were crashing. Two days later and Chad was hugging her goodbye at the airport and asking her to say hi to Ryan and Kelsi for him. She'd pinkie-promised him and actually kept that promise. Seven hours later, as he was lying on his bed reading about ballet theory, he received a text message from an unknown number.

\- 20:36 - Guess that little thing isn't stopping you now, huh?

Chad quite possibly pulled a muscle from the laugh that pushed its way out of his chest.

~

Waiting at the front door of the house Troy grew up in, and not just waltzing on through, was weird.

What was weirder, was having Troy open the door for him and not, on the rare occasion he did wait outside, Coach or Mrs. Bolton.

"You've cut your hair." they said simultaneously. 

They chuckled together. Pulled each other in for a tight hug. Brothers, still, even after all these years. 

"Yeah," Troy started as they pulled out of the hug, "The weird emo-bowl-cut look wasn't really doing anything for me. But you! Your mane was your signature look bro!"

Chad shrugged, stepping into the house after his best friend. "It kept getting in the way."

"Ah, couldn't see the hoop or kept getting hit with the ball?" Troy laughed, not really expecting an answer. Chad just shook his head and laughed awkwardly, knowing that Troy couldn't see him as he led the way into the kitchen/living space.

Nearly everybody had arrived already, just the three (other) New Yorkers weren't there yet.

Taylor, Martha, and Gabby were cooing over Macey - Troy and Gabby's daughter - but looked up and waved an enthusiastic hello when he entered the room. Zeke was rummaging in the fridge, trying to get Troy to listen to his dietary advice for the young girl. There was a man Chad didn't recognise sitting on the couch with Jason, who was showing the stranger something on his phone.

"Oh, Chad," Taylor called, making her way over to her ex, "this is Daniel Epcott, my fiancé."  
Daniel stood up and shook Chad's hand. Chad smiled genuinely, happy that Taylor had found her person. 

"Oh!" Daniel exclaimed as he pulled his hand back. He pointed to the ring on Chad's left hand. Taylor’s eyes widened in surprise as she noticed it too. "Are you married? Is your wife here? I would love to meet her; it'll be nice not being the only outsider to your little gang!" Daniel laughed, as did Taylor, not noticing how stiff Chad had suddenly become. Luckily, he was saved from answering by Gabby.

"Does anyone know when Sharpay, Ryan, and Kelsi are getting here?" She asked from her spot by the kitchen sink where she was now washing some grapes for Macey. 

Chad took his phone out of his pocket and fiddled with it for a second while everyone else shrugged or muttered random guesses.

"They're about ten minutes away, apparently there was a mishap with Sharpay's luggage."  
Everyone turned to look at him as he spoke, clearly wondering why he of all people would know the location of Kelsi and the twins.

"Of all the people you stayed in contact with..." Taylor said with a laugh and a shake of her head. Chad chuckled awkwardly (he seemed to be doing that a lot) then turned to sit next to Jason and hurriedly got him talking about the latest film he was working on.

Everyone went back to what they were doing before. Daniel sat on the other side of Jason as the once-dumb-as-hell boy spoke beautifully of the art of filmmaking. Zeke and Troy had taken over the cooing and feeding of Macey, while Martha, Taylor, and Gabby just stood about talking. From what Chad overheard, pretty much everyone had kept in contact with each other except him. He was starting to think he was the problem, but no one seemed to care all that much, so he let it go.

Ten minutes went by quickly and soon enough there was a soft rap at the backdoor before Kelsi pushed it open and stepped inside.

Immediately Gabby was screaming in joy and running over to pounce on the smaller girl. Kelsi greeted her with just as much enthusiasm, reminding Chad of how close the two girls had been. 

Sharpay came in next, wearing a blush pink ensemble that would have Paris Hilton drooling. She slowly took her Prada sunglasses off and scanned the room. Her eyes landed on Chad, who had stood up at the ruckus of Kelsi's arrival, and she hurried over to give him a hug. Troy stared at his brother like he had grown three extra heads when he hugged Sharpay back with a warm, familiar embrace. 

Sharpay pulled back and promptly whipped around the room hugging everyone and demanding details of their lives ("Zeke did you bring cookies?", "Taylor, how on Earth did you bag a husband that hot?", "Troy, Gabby, Macey is the cutest child ever, after moi, of course!") The frenzy she caused around the relatively small space gave her brother a chance to slip in somewhat unnoticed.

Somewhat, because, of course, Chad noticed.

"Where's your hat?" Chad asked as Ryan stepped over to him. The blonde shrugged, a look on his face telling Chad everything he needed to know: Sharpay. Coming back to Albuquerque always made her a bit nit-picky and she obviously deemed the hat unsuitable in a fit of nerves.

"There's always the ten year." Ryan said in a slight whisper, clearly uncomfortable seeing his friends after so long without his comfort-accessory. Chad reached out brushed his fingers against Ryan's to help relax him. Ryan took that as an opportunity to grab Chad's hand in a vice grip, with no clear intention of letting go. He looked up at Chad through his eyelashes and for a second Chad forgot where they were.

The second lasted long enough that when he pulled back from the soft kiss, it took him a moment to realise the room had gone silent.

"Oh! Sorry," Daniel started from the couch, "I shouldn't have assumed your partner was female, that must have made you a bit uncomfortable." 

The silence lingered for a few seconds more before Macey suddenly burst into tears. Gabby rushed to her daughter, picking her up and softly singing to calm her down. 

"I'm gonna go put her down for a nap. Um, you guys keep, uh, talking? I feel like talking might be a good idea." She hurried out the room and out of sight.

"So…" Chad didn't know what to say.

"Ugh, you guys are so lame!" Sharpay exclaimed. "Tell them the story of how I'm the greatest matchmaker in the world!"

Kelsi barked out a laugh, earning a glare from the blonde. "Sharpay, you literally didn't even know they were together until three – almost four – months into their relationship. And even then, you only found out because you walked in on them."

Taylor and Martha started laughing quietly at that, clearly still amused when the Queen of Theatre gets taken down a peg or two. It was strange to Chad that that sort of annoyed him now.

"Well, if it weren't for me, Chad wouldn't have chosen dance for his major and he wouldn't have had reason to move to New York!"

The silence was back. Chad wasn't happy about all of his secrets being spilled like this.

“Dance?" Jason asked, confused, "I thought you were still playing Ball, dude?" Zeke nodded his head, also wondering the same thing. Chad found his mouth too dry to speak.

"He injured himself," Ryan spoke up from next to him, squeezing his hand as he did. "Couldn't even pass the ball half a foot, let alone play a whole game. Sharpay got him-"

"I got him to start looking at the arts courses after he lost his scholarship. Most of them were only three years and I thought he'd choose graphic design and make his own t-shirts or something but-"

"But dance caught his eye." Kelsi continued. "He kept coming back to it, no matter what else he looked at. He couldn't work out why until-"

"Until he came to New York." Ryan took over again, moving his hand from clasping Chad's to around the man's waist. "Then things started slotting into place."

"Actually, they sort of started slotting after that first text message." Chad said quietly, turning his head to look at Ryan with what he knew were his 'heart-eyes' as Kelsi so aptly named them. Ryan smiled back softly and squeezed his hip. 

"Wait, are you guys dating?" Jason asked, receiving a smack around the head from both Zeke and Taylor for the stupid question.

"Um." Chad's nerves sky-rocketed, finally realising that, yeah, his so-called best friends knew nothing about him anymore. Troy, his brother, was staring at him with such a pained expression that the guilt it caused Chad to feel almost made him throw up. Instead, he managed to push out the word, "Engaged."

Taylor immediately jumped up from where she had sat on the arm of the couch in shock and pulled him into a hug, expressing her congratulations. Jason stood up and awkwardly congratulated Ryan with Martha following close behind to give the blonde a hug. Zeke managed to pry Taylor off of Chad so he could get his congratulations in as well, but Troy just stayed where he was, watching.

Soon enough, conversation resumed to random things such as Kelsi's new musical making its off-Broadway debut and her finding out that her ex-girlfriend was cast as the lead without her being consulted. Chad felt a pang of jealousy that nobody seemed to bat an eye at the mention of her having a girlfriend, despite Kelsi also not coming out until after high school. He extracted himself from Ryan to get a drink from the kitchen.

Because he was still technically in the same room, it wasn't so far that he couldn't still hear the loud conversation from the couches, but it was far enough that when Troy followed him, he knew their conversation would be kept private.

"So… Evans?" Troy tried to sound chill, but Chad could tell he was confused and hurt that his brother hadn't told him such big news.

"Ryan. Yeah." Chad couldn't help the smile that graced his face when he said his fiancé’s name. Troy’s expression changed almost instantly, from hurt to happy. Because that’s all that mattered – if his brother way happy then he was too.

"Dude. This is like, serious-serious, isn't it?" Chad nodded his head, wondering in the back of his mind when an engagement would possibly not be serious. "I didn't even know you were gay."

Chad chuckled at that, "I'm bi, actually. Still think women are hot. Just think Ryan's way hotter. And smarter. And more talented. And funnier. And-"

"Yeah man, I get it." Troy's words didn't come out harsh, but rather bemused. "I haven't seen you talk about anything this way since you watched your first basketball game.”

"Love, man, it makes my brain go all mushy."

If Troy had been taken aback by the open declaration, he didn't show it. "Yeah, you should have seen me after Macey was born. She loves to deny it but I swear Gabby was on the verge of leaving me with how useless I was. Every time I looked at Macey I would start crying because I loved her so much."

"Ryan does that whenever we walk past the theatre Wicked is in."

The two men laughed loudly together, causing the conversation on the couches to pause. Gabby had joined them again now, sitting in between Ryan and Kelsi and being filled in on all the gossip, no doubt.

"So, you dance now Chad?" Gabby called out. He and Troy made their way back over to the living area. Gabby stood up so Troy could sit on the seat, then sat daintily on his lap. Chad plopped himself down on the floor in front of where Ryan was sat, whose hands immediately started combing through his hair.

"Yep." Chad nodded, taking a swig of the beer Troy had passed him in the kitchen. He continued when they realised that they wanted a bit more than that, "Jazz, contemporary, hip hop, swing, and ballroom." Ryan tugged at his hair, "Ow! Okay, and tap."

"Tap!?" Taylor exclaimed from her perch on the arm of the couch. "The Chad Danforth can tap dance?"

"Oh, yes he can." Ryan said, an unmistakable tone in his voice. Chad smirked as Ryan's fingers tightened in his curls once again before relaxing and continuing their soft strokes.

"Oh my god, Ryan, you had one job!" Kelsi complained as Sharpay shuddered. At everyone's confused looks she explained, "This specific topic was off-limits. He gets disgustingly turned on my Chad tap dancing."

Everyone groaned in amused, light-hearted, disgust as Ryan leaned forward and planted a passionate upside-down kiss on Chad's (admittedly expecting) lips. 

Pulling away and looking around the room at his friends, Chad had no idea why he'd been so nervous about this mini reunion. These guys were his best friends, his team. They meant everything to him, and he meant everything to them. Nothing - not time, nor distance, nor new relationships - could come between a wildcat and its family.

**Author's Note:**

> Hhhhh hope you liked it! Please comment (and kudos) if you did, they really mean a lot to us humble writers. And check out my other works if you like Harry Potter, Les Miserables, 13 Reasons Why, and/or Teen Wolf :)


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